Industry-leading transmission and switching equipment key to upgrade of the highly resilient and flexible pan-European network that benefits over 40 million users

14 November 2012 | Cambridge, UK - GÉANT, the pan-European research and education network, and networking suppliers Infinera and Juniper Networks® are working together to provide over 40 million users with superfast and highly resilient terabit networking.

As an early customer for Infinera’s latest DTN-X optical transmission equipment, GÉANT has a route to a network that will meet the ever-expanding requirements for higher speed transmission to support more and more data. Imtech will provide the data packet switching platform using Juniper Networks MX Series 3D Universal Routers with 100Gbps capability, Juniper Networks Junos® Space, and JunosphereTM, thereby comprehensively upgrading Europe’s 50,000km GÉANT backbone network.

Together with Europe's NRENs, GÉANT connects 40 million users and millions of students in over 8,000 institutions across 40 countries. Some of the world’s largest scientific institutions rely on GÉANT’s network, in areas such as bioinformatics, global earth observation, radio astronomy and particle physics. CERN’s new Large Hadron Collider (LHC) datacentre in Budapest will be the first user of the upgraded GÉANT terabit network in taking a dedicated 100Gbps “wavelength” service, continuing a long and successful relationship that has seen GÉANT playing a central role in the LHC’s data needs.

Quotes:
Michael Enrico, CTO, DANTE – the organisation that on behalf of Europe’s national research and education networks (NRENs) has built and operates the GÉANT network states, “After an extensive procurement process Infinera and Juniper demonstrated the best match for our stringent criteria, combining leading edge technology with ease of use and a vision for the future that matches our needs moving forward. We look forward to working closely with them to deliver the benefits of this highly advanced network to GÉANT’s 40 million plus users across Europe.”

Chris Champion, Vice President Sales, EMEA Infinera: “With our DTN-X platform, GÉANT’s pan-European network will support multi-terabit (Tbps) transmission using the industry’s first commercially available 500Gbps long-haul optical super-channels. We’re proud to be associated with such a world-class network that enables its users to innovate quickly and deliver real tangible benefits.”

Mike Marcellin, Senior Vice President, Strategy and Marketing, Platform and Systems Division, Juniper Networks: “The GÉANT network, serving data-intensive global projects such as the LHC, is the ultimate test for high-performance, reliability and scalability. We’re proud to be part of this network, and are confident Juniper’s innovative solutions will help GÉANT provide new services and capabilities to the research and education communities it serves.”

GÉANT staff will be at stand #3650 throughout SC12 week, so come and see us to learn more about our terabit network.